DARWIN Guardian of the Sun & Moon
by akklessens
Summary: This story tells the tale of a man name Darwin Maximus who created a portal that allowed him to enter other universes, but though events he soon find himself becoming the protector of two young fillies and their names are Tia and Luna. He would find himself though trills that would test him might and mind, and will force him to make choices that could affect the world.
1. Chapter 1: IT WORKS!

**Intro**

It was six a.m. when I slowly woke up from my deep slumber. I hit the snooze button to turn the alarm off, else it would have gone off in the next ten minutes. I stepped into the shower, set it to the right temperature, and cleaned my body for the upcoming day. After completion, I stepped out right in front of the mirror, seeing condensation from the effect of the hot shower. I wiped the condensation and there I saw my reflection. My name was Darwin Maximus and I was a human being.

I lived in Baltimore, Maryland in the year 2665. The date was October fifteenth. It was just a normal day, but in a short time, an event would occur that would change my life forever. Let me tell you my story starting from the day I received the phone call

Act I

Elements

**Chapter One: It Works!**

After I groomed myself in the bathroom by brushing my teeth, combing my hair, and shaving, I returned to the living room to turn on the television and continue to the bedroom to put on some clothing. From the bedroom, I could hear the global channel news talking about the usual: the war, poverty, hunger, depressing stories, and a somewhat good story that barely makes up for the rest. I could remember when my grandparents were still alive. I see my grandfather watching the news when I wanted to watch cartoons. I could still remember the most common and repetitive line he said every time he was watching.

"Can you believe the shit that's happening to this world? I can remember back in my day when crime was not nearly as bad as it was recently, where China knew their place in the world, and when jobs were just handed to ever good-old, hard-working Americans who needed it. I remembered when it was like, 'Hello, my good sir. I need a good, well-paying job with benefits and pay vacation.' 'Well my good sir who needs an interview when you're white, so the job is yours."

Oh right, I forgot that my grandpa got racist when he was not taking his pills. He also couldn't afford them at the time, when his insurance stopped paying for them. Hell, no one could really afford anything good if you weren't an upper-middle American. But excuse me for getting side tracked.

As I returned to the living room with my casual clothing, I placed a slice of bread into the toaster for some breakfast. I began to tie my shoes when I heard the phone ring. I looked at the screen of my phone to find it was Mark, my closest and best friend. As I pick up the phone I wondered what he wanted. Probably just his wing man for the night. But without another thought I answered him.

"Hey, Mark what's up?" I asked casually with my gruff and tired voice.

There was chatter over the line.

"Hey! Hey!" I exclaimed, trying to calm him down, "Slow down, what's the big hurry? You know what happens when you hyperventilate."

More chatter, but he was still obviously frantic.

"Look, just calm down and tell me what's wrong," I request, hoping he would listen for once.

He did, and he spoke with a clearer tone.

"What?" I said, looking at the phone for a second in confusion before putting back against my ear. "What big news?"

He explained to me what the 'big news' was, causing me to be blink in shock.

"You… You're not messing with me, right?" I asked with a nervous laugh; it couldn't be true.

His voice is so cheery, I was lucky to make out the words.

"You're serious?" I reply, my heart soaring, "Wait, this isn't another false alarm or any bull from the others, is it?"

As I hear the news, a smile came to my face as I dropped the phone. I could still hear Mark talking through it. "Hello? Darwin are you there? Hello? Look, the project works! It really works! Darwin?" Without another thought, I headed straight to the lab, leaving behind my phone in my rush and my bread in the toaster. Thank god the toaster has an auto safety if the toast was burnt.

With my shoelaces completely tied and my coat on, I sprinted out of my apartment and headed straight to the lab. As I ran, I passed the skyscraper monuments, five level traffic lanes - with a crew working on a sixth - and many pedestrians, but I hardly cared. The lab was all I could think of as I headed there. After five years, it finally worked.

Within forty minutes of running, plus the resting period, I finally made it to the Johns Hopkins University, where I did research and conducted my experiments in my project. It really was amazing that this place was one of the only a few areas in the world with green around that not in a preservative dome. The students were giving me stares as I dashed towards the science department. As I entered the building, I shoved through a crowd of students getting out of their lessons and made it to the elevator. When I reached it, I found it was empty. Thank God, too, as I could go straight down, all the way to the 120th floor below. After a minute, I was at my lab, with its pristine white walls, where my coworkers were waiting for me. They were Amanda, who was a blonde with a ponytail, Kyle, a buzzed-cut Asian, May the youngest in our group, and Mark, who I could easily find with his gold spiky hair. All of them were wearing lab coats realizing that I forgot to bring my from home, but I didn't really care at the time. I was greeted with warm smiles from my team as I went right to Mark with a large smile on my face.

"Mark," I started desperately, "It really, _really _worked?"

"Yes" he replied, giving a small chuckle to my behavior, "Your formula was correct. You are the first human being to create a real worm hole."

"I prefer to call it a Dimensional Space Rift Hole," I correct to mark with a smug grin. Then, in a display of aggression, I flicked him on the head.

"What the hell was that for?" he whined, rubbing his forehead.

"_That_ was for doing the experiment while I wasn't here," I explained irritably, giving him a glare. But then my frown quickly turned to a happy grin as I hugged him, "And this is for telling me first."

"So can I see it work with my own eyes?" I asked the room, my excitement rising. Suddenly, however, Mark's grin turned into a sad frown as he looked away with a distant expression. It worried me that he was acting that way. "Mark, what's wrong?"

"Darwin," he started slowly, choosing her words carefully. "There's a reason why I called you here."

"Mark, what's going on?" I asked with a serious expression, tired of him beating around the bush.

"Well, I didn't call you first," he admitted apologetically, "I actually called the executives first." When I heard that, I couldn't do anything but cringe. As most people knew in the world, the big corporations were the main reason for many problems: the middle to lower class economy, the huge decline in the world forests and environment, and of course, the war. But the worst part, for me, was that they were funding my project.

As I was sitting in a conference room, with its long table and multitude of chairs, waiting for the executives to enter, I could only imagine what they were going to ask of me. They knew that my project was just a theory, but with dwindling resources and the war over what was left, my first guess was that this group was getting desperate enough to fund a project that only worked in theory. Before I could go too deep in thought, three men, clad in black business suits, entered the room. One had a needle like body, one had a face that looked beaten repeatedly until you couldn't even recognize him, and the last one was an old obese man who had let gluttony take over him. As all three sat down across from me, they waited a few seconds before they spoke, probably to build up the suspension.

"Well, Mr. Maximus," the old man said first with an air of authority, "You have really impressed us with your results. I thought it would have taken you far longer than five years. But now I see that-"

"Just tell me what you want," I interrupted as I crossed my arms, wanting this to be over.

"Well straight to the point. I like that. Now before you open that portal thing...?"

"Dimensional Space Rift Hole" I corrected him, almost feeling like they were insulting my work.

"Sounds too long. It should be shorter," the ugly guy commented, making me roll my eyes.

"Well talk about that later," the old man waved off. Now then… where's that intern?"

"I just paged him five minutes ago," the needle man announced glancing around, obviously annoyed.

Then, a young boy, wearing the same suit as the men in front of me, opened the door with a briefcase, breathing hard. Gasping for breath, the boy wheezed, "I'm sorry, sir. Traffic was bad and-"

"I don't want to hear your damn excuses!" the needle man shouted harshly, "Now put the case on the table and leave at once."

The boy nodded nervously, putting the case between us as instructed and soon left the room. I could only imagine what crap he had to put up with from those assholes every day. When the old man opened the case, he took out a tablet containing the virtual documents that would tell me the terms of our new contract.

"Now, just read over this," he instructed, placing the tablet right in front of me, "The bold sections are the most important. When you're finished, sign it, and we should be ready to open the portal by tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" I questioned with a tinge of worry and surprise, "But we just tested it once. We need more time."

"Look, if it works once, then that's good enough for us," the ugly man explained coldly, cutting me off, "We're on a tight schedule, and we need this done now."

"And besides" the old man continued, a creepy smile growing, "You haven't finished reading you're new contract. You might like what you see." As I read over the contract, feeling unsure about the situation, I realized that my team and I would be going through the portal. We would be traveling to another world. But then I read that there would be hired mercenaries that would be keeping an eye for any hostile natives. More like keeping an eye on us. But I knew that if I wanted to get away from this world, I would have to do what these bastards wanted. So I pressed my thumb on the tablet and my name appeared across the screen, indicating that it was signed. When it was finished, I handed the tablet back to the old executive.

"Excellent," he said, putting the tablet back in the briefcase, "Now, we'll be seeing you off. Gather what you will need for the trip and say your goodbyes. Have a nice day, Mr. Maximus" All three of the executive stood simultaneously, and left the room. I remained where I sat for a while, rubbing my head and wondering how things would go the next day. Eventually, I got up and left the room as well, intending to head home.

The next day, I returned to the lab, bringing a backpack full of supplies, clothes, books, and many other trinkets. Using the elevator, I reached the 120th basement floor, where I met my team's "security". I saw a big guy with a Gatling gun in his grip. An African was holding a scatter gun while smoking a cigar, leaning against the wall. One person was holding a sniper rifle, with his face covered by a mask. A medic with a pair of round glasses and a white cloak and a technician, who had a bunch of tools on his dark blue vest, stood by each other indifferently. They both had assault rifles, but what concerned me was that they looked nearly identical. They must have been biological twins. Finally, there was their leader, a tall female with an eye patch over her right eye, looking confident and ready for anything. Strangely, I found her rather attractive, what with her long black hair tied in a ponytail and emerald eyes. Then someone came out of an adjacent room was a guy looking like he was ready for camping, with the large backpack and sleeping bag.

"Alright," the backpack-wearing man said, catching our attention. "My name is Charlie Debt, and I'm a representative of the Arch Corporation, section seven. I'll be supervising this project for my superiors. The rest of the team is in the portal room, ready for the journey. You all should have everything with you, so follow me and we'll be on our way."

All the mercenaries looked to the female, who I guessed was their leader, and she gave a nod. When she did, they all got up and entered to another room, where the portal mechanism would be. I was going to follow them, but the female blocked my path, gazing at me intently.

"You must be one who invented this thing" she assumed, jabbing a thumb over her shoulder as she glared at me. "Let's get things clear" you do you science crap, and let my men worry about the rest. Just stay out of our way. Do you understand?"

Before I could answer Charlie poked his head back in. "Hey, what are you two doing?" he asked critically. "We're about to leave. Let's go." The female stared at me for a few more seconds before turning her back to me and walking through the door. Sighing at her behavior, I followed after, wondering if she would be a problem in the future. We were in the testing room, where Amanda, Kyle, May, and Mark were conversing with each other. Amanda was scared; leaving our home world and traveling to another, unknown world in a different dimension can be terrifying. Kyle was trying to cheer her up, telling her it wasn't that bad, and thankful it was working. May stood there, looking over her notes on her personal table, stuck in her fixed little world of work. Mark spotted me and came to me to engage in conversation.

"I knew that they were going to hire mercenaries," he said, glancing menacingly over to Charlie, "But I _didn't _know that they'd bring one of their own lackeys to be a spy."

I understood, but didn't reply, not seeing the point of complaining about something that we couldn't change. I soon turned my attention to the attractive female leader, who was talking with one of her mercenary members. Unfortunately, Mark caught me the act, and gave a knowing grin. "Well, well, well. Looks like you have a thing for that lady."

"N… No I don't" I replied a little too quickly with shock. I scratched the back of neck as I looked to the ground embarrassingly.

"I don't know anything about her," Mark commented, tapping his chin, still smiling. "She might be a lesbian, or one of those single-for-life types. Maybe she even has, like, eight kids."

"Mark, shut up," I said plainly to him, knowing he would go on forever if no one stopped him. Though what he said might be right. For all I knew she could see me, I mean, my team as just a another job to her. Before I could think on it further, I heard the intercom activating.

"Alright, now that everything is in order, activate the device," an old voice ordered, and I recognized it as the obese executive. With a deep breath, I pulled the large lever, and soon the Dimensional Space Rift Hole was creating a swirling mass the resembled a black hole, except the center was bright. I knew it would work, but I couldn't help but feel amazed that it actually made the portal. Looking over, I could see that my team, even though they saw it the first time, were as surprised as I was. I took a step forward, bracing myself for the interdimensional travel, but I was stopped by the female leader who took a hold of my shoulder, causing me to wince from the pressure. She looked at me with a donating look, one that told me to not even try it. "Brick," she called to one of her mercenaries, still staring at me. "Go in and see if the coast is clear."

"Yes, mom," The big guy with the Gatling gun replied sarcastically. I assumed that he was Brick. He grasped his gun tightly and walked through the portal. I was a little upset that I wasn't the first living thing to go into the portal. But I remembered that the contract stated that the mercenaries were in charge of protecting my team, and must enter first, in case of dangerous activity on the other side. After a few tense moments, a small radio that the female leader at on her side came to life with static, and a deep male voice spoke through it. "The coast is clear. You can come in now."

"Alright, listen up," she shouted to my team, causing us to stand up straight to attention. "You geeks will do exactly what I say. If I say move, you move. If I say stop, you stop. If I say jump, what do you do?"

"Generic move quote," Mark smirked, trying to be funny, but he only managed to piss her off. But she simply glared at him for half a second before turning her gaze to her men.

"Grass Snake, you're up," The sniper gave a curt nod, and charged through the portal without hesitation.

"Matt, Data, your next," The twins stepped up and went through the portal as well.

"Dodge, now," The scatter shooter concentrated on the portal and rushed through it.

With the all mercenaries through, the female leader turned to us. "After I go through the portal," she explained, looking at each of us in turn, "I'll call you. Then you can come through." She then turned her back to us, but before she did anything, she faced me with a small smile and winked. I was taken back by the move that I hardly noticed that she was already gone. At least now I know that she isn't a lesbian. After a few short seconds, I hear the radio on our backpacks as she spoke. "All's good. You can come in now."

"Here goes," Charlie muttered as he walked to the portal, only to be interrupted by Amanda to scream at the top of her lungs and rush right through the portal.

"Amanda, wait!" Kyle yelled, as he ran after her.

"Damn it, don't you people know how to wait!?" Charlie shouted at them, not knowing they can't hear him. But after that, he sighed, and he too, went through.

"You think they'll have internet on the otherside?" May asked the two of us.

Mark scoffed, "You say the footage thought are first testing. What do you think?"

"Well, this trip is going to suck," she mumbled, stepping through the portal. At that point, it was just Mark and I, the last ones left in the room. We both prepared to charge through the portal, and then Mark looked at me and smiled.

"Ten years of planning, and five years of experimenting. Now, it's time for the results," he said, and I returned his smile. Suddenly, he turned his back to the portal and gave a big excited cheer as he jumped back first into it. Leave it to Mark to make any serious thing fun. I took one last look to the three business men, standing behind the glass window of the observatory. They stared at me with creepy waves as the old man spoke through the intercom.

"Don't disappoint us."

I was really tired of their controlling ways, and thinking I wouldn't have to deal with them for a long while, I decided to give all three of them the one thing I wanted to do when I first met them. I raised my hand and gave them my middle finger, essentially flipping the bird. And after that, I turned to the portal, took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and walked though. Little did I know, that those last moments would be my last time on Earth, my home.


	2. Chapter 2: ONE MONTH

**CHAPTER TWO: ONE MONTH**

Darkness. That was all I saw. It wasn't the present, but a memory from my past twenty years ago. I was part of an Archeology expedition in an old ruin in the deep part of England.

"You know my studies are in quantum physics, right?" I asked skeptically to the young lady in front of me. "I don't know anything about ancient history, unless it's current."

"Well, maybe, but you owe me, remember?" chuckled the lady, with her short cut brown hair. Mary was her name. I had known her since we both met in a university class, and even graduated together in time. She was a year younger than me, but it never bothered me. I always focused on her personality, wits, and intelligence. What _really _got me thought it was her deep ocean eyes.

"Now if you're done bugging me, I need you to listen." she said, standing in front of a crumbly stone wall. She knew me just as well as I knew her. "If my calculations are correct, which they are, the tomb should be on the other side."

I soon step up to the wall, preparing to break it open, "I got this."

"Wait, there could be something important written on the other side of the wall," she tried to stop me, but without considering it, my foot broke through the thin wall like it was styrofoam.

"Now it's a door," I commented with a small laugh. When we both stepped into the tomb, we could barely see a thing, as the room was dark as Hell. Mary and I pulled out our flashlights from our backpacks, and turned them on. The beams of light landed on a large, stone round table.

"Maybe we uncovered King Arthur's Round Table?" She joked with a smile. I smiled back, understanding what she meant. I glanced around with my flashlight to see the remains of some corpses on the table. What was strange was the corpses were perfectly intake; there was no decomposition at all.

"I can't believe it," she whispered in awe, approaching the table. "Over two thousands year and their bodies are still untouched by time."

I was surprised as well. Then again, this room must have been sealed off from the outside, cutting out the oxygen. It could also have been the cause for their deaths. Or poison, seeing as goblets were littered around the room. The light from my flashlight looked over the bodies, not finding anything extraordinary, except the body that had interesting, faded colors that were different from the rest.

"I'm guessing that's the host," I assumed, pointing to the body as Mary looked at what I was indicating. I walked to the body to get a closer look, and saw that the corpse's hand was clutching something. "Hey, I think he's holding something."

"Well, be careful not to damage the body," Mary requested. Giving a grunt of confirmation, I carefully lifted the hand off the table as I tried to see what he was trying to cover. It revealed itself to be a beautiful amulet. It gold colored with six gems on it. One big amethyst in the center and five smaller ones surrounding it: a ruby, citrine, emerald, sapphire and a pink diamond.

"He was holding this," I explained, showing her the amulet with astonishment, "It must cost a fortune."

"You may be right," she whispered, staring at the object in wonder. It was at that we heard someone approaching from where we had entered.

"Quick!" she ordered, hastily covering the amulet with her hands as she faced the entrance. "Put it in your bag. They won't expect someone like you to have it."

I was surprised from her remarks, "Wha- what are you talking about?"

"It's not like that," she added abruptly, obviously on edge. She took one last glance at the entrance before facing me with a frown. "I what to study it and see what history it holds. If anyone else finds it, they'd just take it and sell it to some rich, tycoonist, who'll just give it to his trophy wife." I knew she was right. This amulet did have history, and the people that funded her expedition would definitely take this away before she had the chance to look over it. I placed amulet in my bag under some clothing, hiding it from view. Marry smiled at me and whispered, "Thank you."

"Of course," I chuckled, "I'd do anything for my wife."

Returning to the present, as I stepped through the portal with my eye's closed, I felt the environment change from room temperature to a nice warm breeze. I could tell that I was no longer in Baltimore, Hell, I knew I wasn't on Earth or even my universe. After taking a deep breath, I opened my eyes.

Beauty. That what the first thing I saw. Pure, untouched beauty. There was pure green grass on the ground, tall trees that weren't in a preservative dome or in some rich guy's backyard, and a clear beautiful sky with clouds that looked like they were painted. I was trapped in the world's scenery, and it made me happy. My old and corrupted world that I came to hate was on the other side of the portal, but at that moment, all I cared about was admiring the view.

"Hey," the female leader said, snapping me back into reality, "Move your ass already and get your tent up." Looking around, I could see everyone already busy setting up camp. As I walked away from the portal, I glanced behind it, watching it shrink smaller and smaller, and before I knew it, it vanished.

"Two weeks," I mumbled to myself, "Two weeks until they reopen the portal."

Turning back, I saw the mercenaries putting up their tents and unpacking their guns. Dodge, as I recall was his name, looks at me with a smirk as he reloaded his scattergun. Grass Snake was on top of one of the many trees surrounded us, keeping lookout. Matt and Data were arguing over something, but Brick quick broke them up by picking them both up by their shirts. Turning my attention towards my own team, I saw Kyle talking with Amanda, making sure she was alright. I wondered if they were seeing each other. May had finished her tent rather quickly as she liked to keep to herself. Finally, I saw Mark pitching a tent next to another.

"Hey, Darwin," he called, gesturing to the tent, "I was just setting this up for you tent. I think you would want to look around first."

God, he was helpful. "Mark, you don't have to do that," I said, feeling bad that he was doing it just for me. "I'll finish what's left. Why don't you go see if there the foods ready."

"Got it, man," Mark replied with a mock salute, heading over to the others. After finishing up my tent, I entered inside and started unpacking, going through my books, clothing, emergency food, first aid - in case we need it - and then the locked boxes. It reminded me what had happened that morning, when I was packing as much as I could. I was going through my sock drawer when I had come across the box sitting in the corner. I had almost forgotten all about it, or at least I tried to. It reminded me of Mary, which nearly made me cry, but I had suppressed the tears and packed the box. Since it was a lock box, I brought along the key that was attached to a string like a necklace. I had placed it around my neck, zipped up my bag, put on my over coat, and locked the door. And before I left, I had given a spare key to an old lady who had promised to water my plants while I was gone.

Coming out of my memory, I pulled the key off my neck, and took a deep breath, knowing that what lay inside the box would only remind me about her. Hesitantly, I unlocked the box, and opened it up, showing the twelve hundred year old amulet from the old ruins.

"She never got the chance to figure out what you were," I whispered to the amulet, my resolve hardening, "But I will soon enough. I'll find out why you're so important."

Loading audio recordings. Sixteen found. Four corrupted; unable to play. Twelve available. Playing now.

Day One: It has now been twenty-four hours since we arrived in this new alien world. No problems have been found so far. We had rumors going around, but nothing really big. There was one fight, but it was just between Matt and Data, who I learned were biological twins. Two brothers hired for war. That's kind of funny. Still haven't found out what the female leader's name was. I asked her today, but she told me to... well, I'm not gonna say it, but I think you can figure out what she said. From the exploration the other mercenaries had done today, they found miles of trees and woods. This forest must be massive if all they could see was trees, but in the distance, they saw mountains with snow caps. There might be snow heading our way soon. If we do get snow, this trip is going to suck. On a personal note, the amulet is unknown to everyone else. As far as I could remember, this amulet was a relic to an old cult. But I couldn't remember if the gems were as bright as they were the last time I looked at them. Well, that's it for this log. I'll record any information that comes up. This is Darwin, signing off.

Day Two: Nothing happened today, but during the night, I swore I heard a whisper, but I didn't think too much of it. It would be any number of things: A conversation, someone talking in their sleep, or just the wind. To be honest, that's all I really have to report. Unless you want to hear Mark's story about the time his date had a bondage fetish, but I think that not really an appropriate topic for this recording. I don't even know why I brought it up. Darwin, signing off.

Day Four: (chuckling in the voice) Brittany. Today, I found out that the leader's name was Brittany. That is the trashiest name I have ever heard. When she told me, I tried really hard not to laugh out loud, but I knew I couldn't hold it in so I ran to my tent instead. On the way, I ran into Doug, and for some reason, he knew about that moment with Brittany. He had said to me, "The last person who laughed at her name ended up fired and a face worse than guy who hired us, so I hope you're good in bed." After that I couldn't stop laughing. Trashy name and a slut. God, I don't know what to think about that. Wait… Why do I have a feeling that she's in my tent. Well, she was just there, but now she's gone. I hope I didn't piss her off too much. This is Darwin, signing off.

Day Five: Nothing really happened today, except that May was coughing and having trouble breathing, but that could just be her asthma. She never brings her inhaler to work, it's like she doesn't want anyone to know. One time, her friend came by and told me about her asthma, and she had left an inhaler for her at the lab just in case. Thank god we brought one with us so she could get better. Right now, she's in the med tent, where Matt is apparently the medic. Hope she gets better tomorrow. Darwin, over and out.

Day Six: Dear God, something horrible happened today. Matt was attacked by May. I don't have all the details, but May had broken both his arms and tried to scratch him to death. I know that couldn't have happened. She doesn't really work out, or even have the muscle to break both of a mercenary's arms, let alone one. But damn was I wrong. Both his arms were broken so bad that his broken bones had protruded through his skin. But what was worse was his face. Dammit. Amanda even puked after just looking at it. Right now, he's in the medical tent. It's a good thing Kyle has some medical training. He told Britney his arms would be back to normal in a few days with some help with bone regenerating pills, or BRP for short, but his face is beyond fixing, even with reconstruction. Brittany was not happy with me. She said to me, "I don't know what's wrong with her, and I don't give a damn, but if she attacks another one of my men, I _will _kill her." I went to the newly built holding tent, where May had been restrained on a table resting with five milligrams of haloperidol. Mark told me he tried using phenobarbital, but it wouldn't work He was surprised that he needed to use that much haloperidol just to knock out one girl who was just an intern. I went inside to see her, and she looked fine, quite better than she was before. I couldn't even imagine someone like her going crazy like that, but then I noticed something. Something horrible. I looked at her fingers, and there were no nails or even skin. It was just bones. She had scratched him so much to the point where her skin and muscles peeled off, even her bone where chipped. God dammit, what the hell is happening here? It hasn't even been a week and already someone is injured and another is under surveillance! This is Darwin, going to Bed.

Day Seven: It has been a week since we came to this world. So far, one is still in the medical tent and another is now under quarantine. It used to just be a holding cell, but Brittany told everyone that no one is allowed to go into the tent without a hazard suit, a guard, and her permission. If someone disobeyed her rules, that person would be stuck there until the portal opens up again. Data was checking his brother in the med tent to see if he was alright. I think he was taking his brother attack quite well, considering. Though, he tried to charge into the quarantine tent, screaming "Let me in. I'm going to kill that bitch for what he done! She deserves to die!" Britney had punched Data in the face, which actually calmed him down. "Go back to your post, Data." she had said to him, "Do you think Matt would like to hear that his brother had killed his attacker in a fit of rage?" And I think Data said something along the lines of, "No, you're right, sorry ma'am." After that mess was fixed, Brittany ordered me to meet her at her tent again at twenty-one hundred hours, which was ten pm, if I remembered correctly. Mark had overheard the conversation, and said to me, "Well, looks like you found a new friend." I said it was probably nothing, though I might be wrong. Well, it's almost ten, we'll see what's so important. Darwin, over and out.

Day Eight: Last night, Brittany asked me if May had any medical history. I told her about her asthma, but explained that nothing really could have leaded her to this. Brittany thought it may have been the planet, a sickness unknown to us, or maybe an even bigger problem. Then, she told me to head off to my tent and that was it. For the rest of the day, nothing happened. But later that night, the gems on the amulet, which I had tucked away safely, were glowing, and I thought they were whispering to me slowly. "Run". That's what they were saying before the glowing died and the voices were silent. This may be an alternate universe, but this couldn't really be physically possible. Maybe it was an anomaly, one of Mark's pranks, or it was just the wind. I decided to look on it later. Well, that's all I have to report, I wonder if I'm going crazy too. (Laughter) Dear God, I hope not. Darwin, signing off.

Day Ten: You know what? The time I had been here, I have had no idea what my team was even doing. So today, I decided to check on everyone. Amanda and Kyle were working on how this world's vegetation affects the world. So far, it has been normal, all the vegetation had been fine, just like in our world. May was attempting to send a probe into the air to get a better view of the world before she... well, you know. I'm guessing she wanted to see if stars were similar to ours, but with her current condition, we will never know. Mark said he's been trying to find any wild life besides the insects see we saw earlier. Mark told me that he saw a rabbit once, a white rabbit to be exact. He tried to catch it, but failed. Before I could leave, he asked, "Hey Darwin, what are _you _working on?" I didn't want to tell him about the amulet, he thinks I got rid of it a long time ago, so I lied. I can't believe I lied to my best friend, the very person who brought me from the brink of death and got my life back in order. I would tell him about the truth, but he'll think this is about her, but the amulet is for her. I … I'm done. Bye.

Day Eleven: Something happened today. Brick is now in the quarantine tent. Grass Snake said Brink was just banging his head on one of the trees. He thought Brick was just being himself, but then he saw him bleeding. He tried to stop him, but when he got closer, Brick started hitting his head harder and harder, and Grass Snake was forced to knock him out. He dragged him to Brittany, and she told him to put Brick in quarantine. Dammit, another incident. At least no one was hurt. Three more days. Three more days and we'll all be able to go home.

Day Thirteen: Tomorrow, the portal will open, finally. With one person still recovering and two in quarantine, I'm glad this mess is over. I needed to talk to someone, and I wanted to see Mark, but he was busy. Then, I saw Brittany sitting by the fire, so I asked if I could join her. We started talking, and I think she's comfortable around me now. I asked her what she's going to do when she got back to Earth, and she said, "When I get payed, the first thing I'm going to do is get drunk, and screw a few guys, maybe even a girl." Wow, she's a slut. Thank god I didn't say that out loud, or I would be dead. I asked how she meets these people in her team. Wait... she's not here, good. Anyway I asked her how she met her team. "It's a long story, trust me," she had told me, then I asked her why she became a mercenary. "Because I'm a born killer." Then, out of nowhere she asked, "What about you? Are you a killer?" It took me some time to answer, but I replied to her with this response, "I only killed during my service in the war, never again." She followed up by asking me, "So you were a soldier? I thought so, I could tell by just looking in your eyes. Well, turning away from that life would be harder than it looks. So tell me, is there a woman in your life?". I was wondering why she asked me that is until she said, "Just joking. You aren't, right?"

"Was, not anymore, but that was a long time ago." I said, and she had given me a sympathetic look, asking, "Didn't work out?" I didn't want to answer, so I told her I should get some sleep for the return trip the next day. I was about to leave until she looked around in confusion, saying, "Wait, where's Charlie? I haven't seen him in this whole trip" I agreed with her, and said I would look for him tomorrow. You'll be happy to hear that I went straight to my tent. Now, I'm off to bed. Good night and good riddance.

Day Fourteen: Well, this isn't good, not one bit. Everyone was waiting for hours and the portal didn't appear. "Okay, Darwin why the hell is the portal not open yet?" Brittany asked me harshly as the other soldiers look at me as well. "I really don't know," I answered, "This is the right date, so the portal should be open. I have no idea what's going on." That was when Charlie whipped out this radio, asking if anyone was on our planet. "Wait just a god damn moment," Brittany barked angrily, "You had a radio that can access home the whole time?" That had really set Charlie off, "Yes, it can, and Darwin, no, I will not tell you how it's possible because they told me not to tell you. Now everyone shut up so I can see if there's an answer." He fiddled with the radio a bit more before, giving a deep sigh, "Dammit, the message is delayed, the computer won't have the message possessed for another two days." Brittany rounded on him, yelling, "We don't have enough supplies for two days!" Which Charlie calmed replied, "Well, this _is _a forest, find something to eat." I hate Charlie, he's a dick. We'll have to wait two days before the message would get through. Who knows, maybe the portal will open by then.

Day Fifteen: Doug is dead. I honestly never expected him, of everyone in Britney's group, to actually die. Grass Snake brought him to back to camp while they were hunting for food, and... well, I can't believe I'm saying this, but what Grass Snake described that attacked him was a Manticore. I thought it was crazy, but Grass Snake had video footage. My God, I saw Doug shooting that thing but nothing seemed to work. And before we knew it, it killed him, but Grass Snake said Doug tried had tried to kill it with a headshot, but the Manticore was too quick and dodge his shots. Doug got some shots in it, but it shook it off like it was nothing. Eventually, Doug ran out of ammo, and the Manticore took the kill. Brittany wasn't happy, and for the first time, she was crying, though she tried to hide it. Data told me that Doug and Brittany had been friends since they formed their team. I can't help but feel sorry for her. Back to the Manticore, I did some research from an old book I packed and found it. A lion's body, bat wings and a scorpion tail. I know this is a different dimension but… damn. That portal better be open tomorrow.

Day Sixteen: It's gone. My world is gone. Our world is gone. I checked on Charlie, wondering what that bastard was doing. I saw his tent completely destroyed from the inside. I thought Britney might have been responsible, but I remembered that she hadn't been in his tent, let alone, seen him all day. When I entered his tent, I saw him on his knees, looking at the floor. I asked him what he was doing. All he said was, "It's gone." I asked him what was gone... Everything. The Chinese bastards finally did it. They finally dropped the bomb on American soil, and we retaliated. Oh sweet merciful god, what have we done? We had a long talk with lots of curses coming from him, but eventually he ordered me to leave. While I was leaving, I heard him whisper "I'm sorry" and then a gunshot. I re-entered the tent to find him dead. Brittany came rushing in, asking what happened, so I told her he committed suicide. "Why?" she asked hesitantly, so I told her how Earth had been... destroyed by the TQO, a weapon that makes the atomic look like a firecracker. Brittany hesitated trying to hide her emotions, and told me she would tell the others. I thanked her because… I don't think I could have done it myself. Earth is really gone. What the hell are we going to do no?

Day Seventeen: Understandably, no one was happy with the news. Amanda was balling like a newborn, and Kyle was trying to help her as much as he could. Everyone else was taking it well, but I knew they were angry. What I didn't expect was Mark. I ask him if he was alright. "Why?" he said, glaring at me, "Why didn't _you _tell me?! I'm your friend! Why the hell didn't you tell me first!?" I explained that it was too much for me to handle, but it only made him angrier. "Too much?" he said in disbelief, raising his voice, "Too much?! My family is dead, my friends are dead, hell, even the girl I actually liked doesn't even have a body any more, and you give me some bullshit excuse like it was too much!" Mark was acting way out of character, and I asked what was wrong with him, which he shot back that _I_ was his problem. He continued on from that, shouting, "Okay, I'm sick of fixing your mistakes, and helping your pathetic ass!" I still can't believe he would say anything like that to me. But then I noticed his eyes. They were bleeding. Before I could say or do anything, Mark fell to the ground. Grass Snake had knocked him out, telling Brittany he had found another one. We have a patient in the med tent, one dead, and now three in the quarantine tent. (Silence) For god's sake, why the hell am I even recording this? The only ones who will ever hear this is everyone in camp, unless the manticore would like to hear my audio logs. Well, I'm out.

Day Nineteen: DATA CORRUPTED

Day Twenty Two: DATA CORRUPTED

Day Twenty Six: DATA CORRUPTED

Day Twenty Nine: DATA CORRUPTED

End of audio recordings. Attempting to restore Day Nineteen, Twenty Two, Twenty Six and Twenty Nine. Process one percent.

It was the middle of the night after our first month in this world, knowing that Earth was gone. And that was when I smelt something from inside my tent.

"Smoke…? FIRE!" I shouted, quickly exiting my bed and heading outside. Everything in our camp was on fire. Not only that, but… Grass Snake. Grass Snake was on the ground. I walked over to him to see if he was okay, but... "No," I whispered, turning away from him. His body… his body had no head. It looked like it was torn off completely.

"Can it be…? I need to get to the med tent." I told myself, rushing over to my destination. As I hurried along, I hoped I would run into any survivors in this inferno camp. Unfortunately, I found Kyle on the ground.

"Kyle are you-?" I started before seeing his head. There was a hole it; he was dead as well.

"What's happening? What going on?" I whispered to myself, my anxiety growing immensely. Giving my respects, I crouched down and closed Kyle's eyes before I left for the med tent. Continuing to my objective, I decided to move more quietly, hoping I didn't run the thing that had attacked our camp. That was when I heard a noise. I went to investigate, keeping silent as I hoped it was survivors.

"Oh… oh god," I said quietly, my eyes wide. I saw Matt, with blood in his eyes, smashing Data's head into a rock, and Data was dead for some time, as there was barely anything left of his head.

"Dear God, why? Why? Why would he do this to his own brother?" I whispered shaking my head in distraught. I snuck past Matt, moving forward when I noticed May. She was smashing her head against a tree while on fire.

"This can't be happening. Please be a dream," I said, my breathing and heartbeat increasing. I knew it wasn't a dream, it was real, and at that moment, I was in Hell. I was getting closer to the med tent when I noticed a body that was still moving. A survivor. Squinting, I saw who it was: It was Brittany. I ran over to her to see if she hadn't lost her mind like Matt or May.

"Hey," she said hoarsely, coughing heavily afterwards, "Darwin, right?" I was a little mad that she forgot my name even though we had a mouth to know either other, but I shook it off and nodded. "Damn, I got to know you for a month, and I still wasn't sure about your name. God, I'm terrible, and I was thinking of sleeping with you."

She coughed some more after that, causing my heart to wrench. "Don't say another word," I said, patting her shoulder, "I-I'll get help."

"No, don't bother," she told me, taking deep breathes, "Look… it was that friend of yours, Mark. He started this fire, he released the quarantine, and somehow infected Matt, even though he could have been infected from the beginning."

"But how?" I asked, puzzled how Mark had escaped from the quarantine tent.

"The blonde girl, he used her."

"Amanda," I muttered to myself, knowing she was the only blonde here.

"He's… he's holding her hostage," she explained, "He thinks I'm waiting to strike, even though he knows he got me. I think he's just being paranoid. That, or he's just crazy. Darwin, you need to stop him." She reached for something from her back and brought it in front of herself, it was a handgun. "Here, take my gun. I don't know how many bullets are left. You need to stop him, if you don't, he'll kill her and what's left of my team."

"Sorry to say," I said to her, taking the gun in my hands, "But Data and Green Sneak are dead."

She smirked at me, "Well, we survived hunger, deserts, hell, we even survived the war, but every member of my team died on an alien world, and we still don't know why."

"I know... it sucks," I replied, trying terribly to lighten the mood.. She chuckled none the less, and then she gave a long exhale. She was dead, "Shit". With the gun in my hands, I opened the clip to find two bullets left. I snapped the clip back in and decided it was time to confront Mark.

As soon as I stepped away from Brittany, Mark came into view, looking around frantically. He was holding a knife in one hand and was dragging Amanda in the other. She was still alive, but she was Mark's hostage.

"Mark, listen," I called softly, taking a few steps forward. He whipped his head towards me, his eyes wide with paranoia as he brought Amanda up, putting the knife under her neck.

"Come any closer and all cut her throat!" he threatened, bringing the knife closer to Amanda's neck, causing her to whimper.

"Help me," she pleaded quietly.

"Shut up, you stupid bitch!" Mark screamed at her.

"Please listen," I said, putting my hands up in a gesture of peace. I had to contain the situation. "Everyone's dead; were all that's left. We can make it out."

"No, God Dammit, we won't," Mark growled, "The earth is gone, our families are gone, and this world is trying to kill use."

I had to calm him down, but I was worried that I wouldn't be able to, "Look, we're human. We'll adapt and survive."

"With what!?" Mark questioned, visibly shaking, "You think we can repopulate our species!? You think we impregnate this whore and make our children inbreed with each other!?"

"NO! Not like that!" I shouted, growing frustrated and angry.

"You're Goddamn right, not like that," he said, a crazy smile on his face, "Have you seen it yet? Our species was meant to die. What we did to our planet - global warming, stripping our natural resources, overpopulation, corrupted government. Death is our punishment! Earth was destroyed with the TQO, and everything with it. What was left of our race came here, and we were either infected or killed by that monster. We weren't supposed to even exist! We're all going to die tonight, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let this world take me. You and her are going out first."

I tried to rush over to stop him, but I was too late. Mark sliced Amanda throat open, blood gushing out. Mark released her as she fell to her knees, gasping for air, before falling to the floor dead.

"Now it just you and me," Mark announced, pulling out a pistol from his back pocket. "First you, then me." He aimed the gun at me, and I froze with fear, unable to use the gun that I was given. "I'll see you in Hell, old friend," he whispered, but I heard the gun jam as he pulled the trigger. He looked at the gun trying make it fire.

Shaking out of my stupor, I knew it was my chance. I brought the gun up to bear and aimed at Mark's head. "Mary... forgive me," I muttered to myself. Mark faced me with his crazed eyes, before discharged the gun, putting a bullet in the center of his fore head. He fell to the ground, his body completely lifeless as he slumped to the ground, his eyes still wide open. Before I could grieve, I heard a loud noise coming from the forest. Knowing I didn't want to meet it, I quickly turned to my tent, which hadn't been touch by the fire yet. Entering, I hastily grabbed my bag filling it with anything I could get my hands on. With the bag full, I made to leave, but then I saw amulet at the corner of my eye..

"I must be crazy," I told myself, grabbing the amulet, putting it around my neck. After which, I made my way back outside, heading out of the boundaries of the camp.

I heard more roars coming from the behind me as I ran. Looking back at the camp, I could see the flames getting smaller every second I continued forward. As I ran, I was reminded that once again I was running for my life. What was different was that this time, I felt a drop of water on my head.

"Rain. Perfect," I said to no one as the rain fall soon turned from a light drizzle to a heavy downpour. I knew I had to stop to rest, but I just couldn't. I was literally running for my life. I glanced back again, and noticed that the flames getting farther away and the roaring was growing quiet, then silence. I started to slow down, knowing I was probably at a safe distance.

"I need somewhere to rest," I sighed. Thankfully, I found a big hollow tree a few feet away from me, with a hole big enough for me to fit. I rushed into the tree, wanting to escape the downpour quickly, even though I was already drenched. I threw my bag to the ground as I sat down, leaning against the insides of the tree, and for some reason, I was crying. But why? Oh… now I remember. Earth was no more, the team that I called my friends were all dead, but the worst part is that I just shot my best friend. Eventually, before I knew it, I was crying. I knew then that everything was gone. There was nothing left in my life worth living for. That was when I remembered that I still had the gun. Slipping it out, I checked the clip. One bullet left.

"One bullet... that's all I need," I whispered with a deep frown. I knew that there was only one way out. Taking a deep breath, I raised the gun to the side of my head and closed my eyes. Soon, I'd pull the trigger, and end my suffering. But then I heard something.

"Quick, sister, in this tree!" a young feminine voice said. A voice? I heard a voice! And crying?

I blinked; was I dreaming? There couldn't be another intelligent life form. I saw two beings slip into tree, about as wet as I would expect from the rain outside. "Th-This can't be real?" I whispered, my eyes looking down at who had entered. Horses, I saw two very small horses. I must have been imagining it, there was no way those two horses could talk.

"Where…Where's mommy?" said a different feminine voice, though much younger than the other.

"I... my God. They can really talk," I said so quietly that they didn't hear me. I knew this was an alternate dimension, but I still couldn't believe it.

"Luna," the first voice spoke, shaking her head sadly. "Mother, she's…." However, before she could finish her sentence, she looked up and noticed me. A white coated foal with a pink mane holding close was a smaller foal with a dark blue coat and bright blue hair. The white coated foal's eyes shrunk in shock as she gasped, clutching the other foal tightly. The other foal turned her gaze to me too, shying away slightly in fright. I would have reacted the same way to them, if I didn't remember that the gun was still to my head.

I knew I couldn't do it in front of them, so I hastily brought the gun down, taking deep breathes from nearly killing myself, and put it in my front pocket. Looking at the young blue coated foal, I couldn't help but feel sad seeing her upset and shivering, I can also see the other one in the same state. I took my coat off and throw it near them so they can use it as a blanket. The white one broke away from the other and, without breaking eye contact with me, pulled the coat closer, and covered herself and the young foal. As they lied down, getting comfortable, the white one looked to the other, and began to sing a nice song. I didn't remember the lyrics, but I felt like I was in a trance, and when I rested against the tree, I soon fell asleep. Little did I know that those two would forever change my life, starting with that one act of charity.


	3. Chapter 3: HONESTY

**Chapter Three: Honesty**

I saw a bright light, and a room came into my vision, albeit somewhat blurry, but I was able to hear people converse. Oh god, I remembered that. It was eighteen years ago, and I was at a bar, completely drunk off my ass. I remembered that I was trying to pick up this girl, but I was so wasted that my speech was worse than bad.

"Then… I told that… guy, that lady was your… mom!" I slurred, tipping back and forth as I chuckled.

"Well that was… interesting," said the girl, who was completely unimpressed as she avoided eye contact with me. She had regular clothing on, as in, a pair of jeans and a white blouse.

"So…" I said, raising my eyebrows suggestively, "You want to… my place and…"

"Look," the girl said with a deep sigh, closing her eyes in frustration, "You're… something, but I'm here with my boyfriend."

Then a big, muscular guy came over with two drinks in his hands. "Sorry I'm late, babe," he said to his girlfriend with a shrug, "The line was long."

"Now… who's this… guy?" I asked, blinking stupidly as I eyed the man.

"Hey, has this guy been bothering you?" he asked rather aggressively, gesturing to myself.

"Yes," she answered with a roll of her eyes, "I would like to move to another table."

"Hey hey hey, you can't take her, I already called… dibs," I announced as the girl stood up from her seat.

"Look man," the man growled, looking intimidating, "I know you're drunk, but that won't stop me from kicking your ass if you treat my girl like that."

"You think… you can take me on? I can kick… your ass so hard that… so hard that… What?"

"Darwin, there you are," Mark said with relief and concern, walking up to me hastily with an annoyed expression, "I've been looking for you all night. Come on, man, it's late and you're shit canned. You need to go home."

"Not until I… kick this guy's ass and… get some pussy," I replied sounding worse than before. I remembered seeing her boyfriend getting really angry from what I said.

"Now look, he didn't mean that," Mark told the angry boyfriend with a nervous laugh, grabbing one of my arms as he lifted me out of my seat. "So I'll just take him home and we'll forget this ever happened."

"Yeah, you better," replied the boyfriend, jabbing a finger at him. I remembered the room spinning and Mark was escorting me out of the bar. As soon as we were outside, I pushed him away with an irritated look.

"What was that for?" I asked him.

"Dude, I just saved your ass," Mark explained with a shake of his head, "Did you even get a good look at him? He would have kicked your ass, or worse, put you in the hospital."

"Well, you don't know that," I snapped back, swaying a bit, "Maybe I… could have taken him. Or maybe I wanted … him to put me in the hospital. Or better…"

Mark interrupted before I could go on, his face very agitated, "Look man, I know what you're trying to do to yourself, and I'm not letting that happen. Face the facts, Darwin, she's gone. She's gone, and you need to move on."

"Shut the hell up man!" I shouted, sober enough to feel the sadness, "Shut your goddamn mouth! you know nothing and… and…" Before I could finish my sentence, I fell back onto the hard cement and blacked out.

Restoring corrupted data. Process: 10 percent.

I slowly woke up, my mind groggy as a small headache set in. Rubbing my eyes, I tried to remember what happened the night before, and it all came rushing back. A fire, my team, Mark, death.

"Sweet Jesus," I muttered to myself, rubbing my head. I looked around seeing that I was still in the hollow tree. Then my eyes landed on the two sleeping foals, with my jacket still placed over them.

"Oh yeah," I said in remembrance. It was a downpour the night before, so I had taken shelter in the tree and they both ran into the the tree as well. And I reminded myself about something else.

The gun.

I faced the gun that was in my front pocket, and glanced at the foals who are still asleep. I wanted to finish what I had started, and quietly I snuck out to do just that. I walked a ways away from the hollow tree, to avoid having the foals seeing me, and found a nice spot to end it all. I remembered that I was going to do it last night until my uninvited guests arrived. I didn't want to scar them for life, so I had refrained myself. At that moment, I was still depressed to hell, and I just wanted relief. I stopped behind a tree, giving a small nod at the location.

"This'll do," I whispered, sitting down against the tree. I pulled out my gun examining it again as I check the clip again to see how much I had left. Still only one bullet. I closed the clip, took a deep breath, put the gun to my head, and began to carefully pull the trigger, before…

"What are you doing?" said an innocent voice, scaring me into losing my grip with the gun and nearly dropping it. Quickly, I caught my gun, glad that it hadn't fired, and I turned my head to see the foal from before. The older white coated one with the pink flowing hair.

"Hi…" I stammered, setting down the gun, "You're awake. I thought you were still asleep?"

"I was until you woke me up," she explained, "So I followed you. Which brings me to my question: what are you doing?" asking me the same question.

"It's… It's nothing. What do you need?" I asked her.

"Well it's a good thing that you asked," she said with an authoritative tone, "I was hoping when we all wake up, I could speak with you about a manner of most importance. But you decided to leave before we had a chance to talk. We should return to your… tree. My sister is waiting."

As she turned away, she started walking back to the hollow tree, and for some reason I followed her instead of running away. I may have been completely weirded out, but I had no other place to go. As I followed her, we soon arrived at the hollow tree, and poking out of it was the head of the young, blue-coated foal.

"Tia you're back!" She said excitedly, running towards who I assumed to be her older sister. When she got close enough, the two wrapped their hooves around each other in a hug. As the younger foal was hugging her, she notices me and got scared. "Who is that?" She asked her sister.

"He's going to help use," she replied with a smile.

I wondered what she meant by helping them, and it kind of made me upset. I never agreed to anything like that.

"Please sit," the older sister directed to me. She was awfully commanding for a filly. I took a seat opposite of them, and waited to hear what they wanted from me.

"Let me introduce myself," she started with a smile, "I am Tia, and this is my little sister, Luna" she gestured to smaller foal, "and we request your assistance."

"I'm hungry," groaned the dark-colored foal known as Luna.

I pushed myself to my feet, and went into the tree, grabbing my bag that I had left behind, and returned to them. I opened my bag to see many days worth of food, and reached into it to pull out an apple. I was hungry as well, and I was willing to bet that the older foal, Tia, was just as famished. Pulling out my knife, I cut the apple into six equal pieces, dividing it up for each of us.

"Here," I said, handing two slices for each of them. Then something unexpected happen. I saw a strange yellow glow covered the four apple pieces and soon they were levitating out of my hand. I freaked out, as expected, wondering what that was. I looked at Tia and Luna and soon realized something. Horns, they had horns on their foreheads. I couldn't believe I didn't notice that last night, though I was a bit delusional. They were unicorns, another mythical creature that only existed in myth and legend.

"Is there a problem?" Tia asked with a raised eyebrow, noticing my stare as she dispersed two apple slices to Luna, who used her hooves to hold them instead.

"Your unicorns!" I replied excitedly.

"Alicorns," she corrected.

"What?" I questioned, tilting my head to the side in confusion.

"We're not unicorns, we're alicorns," she explained, and when I got better look at them, I noticed they had wings as well. They truly _were _alicorns. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I was utterly speechless, so speechless that I dropped my own apple slices.

"Damn it," I muttered to myself, picking up my apple pieces and brushing off the dirt as best I could before eating them.

"Alright, now that we have introduced ourselves, I would like to know your name," Tia informed, taking a bite from her own apple slices.

"Darwin," I said with a nod, "Darwin Maximus."

"Well, Darwin," she said, testing the name out, "I may inform you that we require an escorting to a specific location. I'm not going into too much detail, but I would really appreciate it if you would help us."

I swallowed my bite and said, "Look, I would like to help you two, but I'm afraid I can't."

"Well I guess I have no choice," Tia said as she stood up, "As the daughter of the royal rulers of Equestria, I command you to be our escort!"

I replied simply, "No."

She stared at me with wide eyes before narrowing them at me, "Didn't you hear what I said? We are of royalty. Don't you know what that means?"

"Not… really," I answered honestly. I knew what royalty meant, but they didn't realized I wasn't from this world, so therefore they didn't have jurisdiction over me.

"Look I really want to help you, I do," I said, causing both of the fillies to frown sadly. "But I have my own set of problem I have to work out first."

I wasn't going to tell them I was still planning to kill myself. They didn't need to know that. After finishing my apple pieces, I looked through my bag for more food for them, and when I found a few apples, I placed them on the ground. "Here, this would feed you if you conserved it right," I explained, standing up. I then gave a small wave, turned around, and walked away. I wasn't even a few meters away when I heard sobbing from behind me, and I figured it was just Luna, seeing as she was the youngest. When I turned to face them, I was a bit surprised that it was Tia.

"Please…" she said in between sobs, a few tears falling from her eyes, "We beg you." She turned her gaze to the ground pitifully, her body shaking from pent up sadness. Luna was on the verge of tears herself, but was somehow able to keep it locked up. "We're just two fillies. We don't know how to take care of ourselves. Please, we need your help."

"Sorry," I told them, guilt tugging at my heart, "But you don't want to be with me, trust me."

Feeling bad, I took a shaky breath, and walked away. I could hear Tia calling my name, but I ignored her cries, continuing forward. I felt horrible, leaving those two fillies alone like that, but what could I do? I don't have any knowledge about this world; I know nothing about their culture, and I had no weapons to defend them. I eventually stopped walking and pulled out my gun. I was dead set on killing myself, but I suddenly felt conflicted whether it was a good idea, leaving Tia and Luna like that. Before I could think more of the matter, I heard a branch snap behind me, and when I whipped around to see who that was, I saw a blue tail hide behind a tree

"Luna?" I asked, furrowing my brow in puzzlement. She slowly brought her head out from behind the tree, looking quite adorable as she bowed her head, her eyes fixed on me. "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be with your sister?"

"I came to convince you about helping us," she explained quietly, "I know my sister and I don't know anything about you, and I don't know why we have to leave our home, but my big sister knows best, and I trust her. So I like to ask you for your help. Please."

I made my way over to her, and knelt down. "Look kid," I said softly, making her look away, probably already knowing what I would say. "I want to help, really, but I have my own problem I have to sort out."

"What's so important that you have to do right now?" Luna asked desperately, her eyes quivering.

"You're only a kid," I said, shaking my head, "You wouldn't understand."

All of a sudden, a terrifying roar resonated through the forest, making my spine shiver instinctively.

"What the hell?" I asked myself. I heard someone coming this way, and when I looked back, I saw that it was Tia, running like a bat out of hell.

"Run, Luna! It's a manticore!" she screamed, and my eyes widened in remembrance. I almost forgot that manticores existed in this universe. One even killed Doug! If a professional wasn't able to take down a beast like that, then I knew there was only one thing we could do.

"We need to run, NOW!" I told Luna.

I started running, but when I looked back, I realized that Luna, with her small body and stubby legs, was falling behind. Tia was the same way, not even close to keeping up with me. "I don't have time for this," I growled, spinning around and sprinting for Luna. When I was close enough, I grabbed her into my arms, and held her next to my chest. Then, I did the same with Tia, holding each filly in an arm.

"Put me down this instant! "Tia complained, squirming in my hold, "I'm not a baby, I can run on my own!"

"Well, you're not fast enough, so shut up," I told her, causing her to flinch from my forceful voice.

Running. All I was doing was running while carrying two foals. The crashing and roars behind me was all I needed to know that we were being chased. There was was no way I could outrun this creature with these two fillies with me. I doubt I could fight it either, as even Doug, a mercenary, couldn't even kill one. However, Grass Snake was able to kill one with a headshot, but he used his rifle. All I had was a handgun with one bullet, and I needed that for myself.

Unfortunately, with my mind occupied with these thoughts, and I wasn't paying attention to where we were going. We ran right into a rock wall, and I stopped abruptly, looking up to see nothing I could use to climb up. I turned back from where we came, and could hear the manticore was getting closer and closer.

"Damn it," I whispered to myself, breathing heavily from the fear and exertion.

"What do we do?" Tia asked with a scared tone, as I placed the two on the ground.

"I don't know," I replied, my face contorted with uncertainty. The manticore was getting closer, but I couldn't see him through the brush of the forest.

"Stay behind me," I instructed as I stood in front of them like a shield, "I'll deal with this."

The sound of the manticore was getting close, trees crashing and footsteps booming. Finally, it came into view, stopping a couple meters away from us, probably in intimidation. It was a real manticore. Like legend said, a lion's body, a scorpion tail, and bat-like wings. Then, I noticed something else in its mouth. it looked like blood and… clothing. Dear god, that monster ate the remains of one of my people who had died. I could recognize clothing color was the same as… Brittany's. No, it ate Brittany!? She didn't deserve to end up like that, and my mind was full of rage. All I wanted was to kill that monstrous bastard. Soon, the monster roared again charging at us, and my instinct kicked in. I pulled my gun out quickly and fired. The bullet hit right between the eyes, and the manticore fell, sliding a few feet before stopping completely. Grass Snake was right, only a headshot could kill one.

"You… you stopped it," Tia whispered, sounding impressed though fearful, "I never saw a weapon like that, even one that could kill a…" she stopped talking after seeing the expression on my face. I wasn't happy, I wasn't even angry, I was downright pissed. Then I sprinted right to the manticore's corpse, and just kicked the lifeless husk with aggression, putting my rage into each swing.

"You stupid… son of a… bitch! Ugly… piece of… shit!" I hissed, with each kick. So much anger, so much rage. I didn't know if it was because my one shot at peace was gone or what the thing did to Brittany. Either way, all I wanted to do was hit the monster, even if it wouldn't change a thing. While I was kicking, something grabbed my other leg, snapping my mind back to reality. When I looked at my leg, I saw Luna clutching it with both hooves, crying her eyes out.

"Please, stop…" she asked me, sinking her head into my leg. I also saw Tia was terrified, seeing me act like that. I realized what I was doing by that time. I was beating a corpse because I couldn't kill myself, and for eating someone I cared about in this world. God, what the hell was wrong with me? I looked to Luna, my mouth hanging open as I searched for a response, but before I could say anything, I heard another noise. It was another roar, but this time, it was much louder, and it was coming this way. Then, it burst from the foliage, showing that it was another manticore, but it was three times bigger than… at that moment I realized something. That manticore was a mother, and I just killed its baby.

Oh fuck.

Without hesitation, I quickly grabbed Luna and made it over to Tia, picking her up as well, and ran off along the rock wall. getting the hell out of there. Luckily, the mother was too distracted looking over her baby, so I was able to slip out. I knew it was only temporary, but I would take what I could get. Once again, I was running for my life with two native aliens from this world. Looking back for an instant, I saw that the mother was chasing us, having gotten over her baby's death, seeking revenge. It was definitely faster than the baby, and there was no way I could escape unscathed. So I made a quick turn, hoping to confuse it and get some distance. Luckily I did. I stopped for a second, and dropped Tia.

"Can you fly?" I asked quickly.

"What?" she said with confusion.

"Can you fly? Yes or No?" I repeated hastily, glancing behind me.

"Of course I can fly, but-"

"Okay, take Luna and hide in that tree," I ordered, placing Luna beside her as I pointed to the tree, "I'll distract the manticore. Wait ten minutes, then get down and get out of this forest."

"But…"

"No 'buts', just do it!" I snapped, not wanting an argument when we were short on time. Tia cringed but did what I told her. Luna climbed onto her back, and with a flap of her wings, Tia flew to the top of the tree, out of sight. Then I notice the manticore emerge from the bushes, not looking so happy. As soon as the manticore poked its head out, I started throwing rocks at it while yelling at the top of my lungs.

"Hey, bitch, I'm over here!" I screamed, hitting the mother right between the eyes with a rock, "I'm the one who just killed your little bastard, so come and get me!" My plan worked, but I still had to deal with a rampaging manticore. I instantly took off away from the monster as it gave chase yet again. I turned my head several times to make sure the manticore was still on my tail. It wasn't really necessary, as I could hear it quite easily. I broke out of the forest only to nearly run right into a deep ravine, catching myself before hand.

I groaned, "What the hell is with all these roadblocks!?"

I whipped around to see the manticore was only a few feet away from me, growling as it keep its eyes on me. Instead of attacking me right there and then, the manticore was being patient, waiting more the right moment to attack without falling into the ravine with me. Honestly, I just wanted it to pounce already so I could take that monster with me down to the bottom of the ravine. I would get what I wanted, and Tia and Luna would get away safely. I just hoped that they would find someone who would take care of them.

"Wait!" I heard a voice cry out to me, causing me to turn to the noise, momentarily forgetting about the manticore.

"Luna, stop!" Tia's voice said as I saw the two fillies running towards me, "He told us to stay put!"

They stopped right between the manticore and I, with Luna in tears as Tia was looking worried, glancing over to the manticore.

"Please you don't have to do this!" Luna cried out.

"Yes, I do, Luna, this is the only way," I said sternly, slightly angry that they would come back for me. "Like I told you, I have my own set of problems that you just wouldn't understand."

"I do understand!" she retorted, her breathing growing ragged, "I can see you lost something you care about, and you feel sad and lonely but… but… I don't want you to die!"

She knew… she knew the whole time. She was younger then Tia, and she knew about my suicide attempts, and at that moment, she could see I was doing it again. I don't know what to do. I had no way out; I left the gun where I killed the other manticore, and even if I had it, it didn't have any ammuition., and worse, the mother was getting ready to strike. God Damn it, what do I do?

"Really, Darwin?" a voice echoes in my mind, one that made my breathing stop, "Is getting yourself killed really the answer?"

That voice, I knew that voice, "M-Mary?"

"That's right," she answered, almost making me faint in surprise, "And what are you doing? You're going to get yourself killed like this. You can't just die now, you have to help these girls."

"No," I whispered aloud, causing the two fillies to look at me funnily, "This can't be real. There's no way this could be happening. You're not here, and I can't do that. I just…"

"I know everyone you have ever known is dead," she said smoothly, "This was exactly what happened with me. You just fell apart, and what did you do? Chose the path of destruction, and tried to get yourself killed."

"Shut up," I told the voice in my head, closing my eyes tightly, "I don't want this I just want peace."

"Then stop lying to yourself. I know you, Darwin. Now tell me the truth!"

I hesitated a moment, my mouth hanging open as I said, "I don't… want to… "

"Louder!" she shouted.

"I don't want to…"

"LOUDER!"

I screamed, "I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"

That set the manticore off, and it lunged, its claws ready to slash through us. Tightening a fist, I screamed again, "I DON'T WANT TO BE ALONE!"

With that said, I threw a punch at the manticore, and my world faded to darkness.

I opened my eyes slowly to see I wasn't dead. I was still in the forest, and I was alive. My first thought was what had happened to the manticore. When I sat up, I saw a row of trees flattened, and at the end was the manticore with a bruised face. It was on the ground, motionless. It didn't die, but its injuries showed that it wouldn't be moving for a while. Then I looked at my arm, and realized my arm had transformed. A bright, orange-colored armor was covering my arm, looking like it was responsible for what it did to the manticore.

"I… I did this?" I questioned myself. Then, I noticed a soft glow, and figured it was Tia, but this one was a different color. It was the amulet, the citrine gem was glowing with light. How was that possible? I wondered what could have caused it, and remembered what I said before.

'I don't want to be alone'. it happened after I told the truth. Honesty, I wondered?

"HEY!" I heard crying again, it was from Luna. She ran to me and clutched my chest, crying. But it wasn't of sadness. It was tears of joy. "You… you did it! You… beat a manticore!"

Tia trotted over to us, "I have to agree, that was amazing. I know magic but never anything like that. How did you do it?"

"Honesty," I answered, even though I was one-hundred percent new to this power. Soon, the orange armor disappeared, and was replaced with my arm once again. "Well, this is interesting," I muttered to myself, testing my hand, "Very interesting."

"Well, I guess we'll just take our leave" Tia said with a sad tone, dipping her head as her ears folded back, surprising both Luna and myself. "I know you have your own business to take care of, and we shouldn't make you help use. We appreciate the food and protection, so have a good day. Let's go, Luna."

Luna smiled at me one last time and said, "Thank you." She hugged my chest again and galloping back to her sister.

"Wait," I called out to them, standing to my feet as they both turned back to me, "You know, Luna, you're right. I shouldn't have to die. I wanted to, but then I realized I was lying to myself. I didn't want to die, I just didn't want to be alone. I had someone that left my life a long time ago, but when that person was gone, and I just fell to pieces. I just didn't want to live anymore, but I had a friend who helped me get back on my feet. But now… he's gone too, and fell to the same depression all over again. Then, I met you two, and I didn't feel sad anymore. Now, I realize I don't have to be alone anymore."

Wiping my tears I had shed, I beamed brightly as I said, "So, I've decided to become your protector, and escort you two to your destination."

I soon saw the look on both their faces, they were crying, and I knew they were tears of joy, but then they simultaneously jumped on me, making me fall back down to the ground. They were thanking me over and over again, and I gave a soft laugh.

"Okay, okay, just get off please," I requested kindly, and the two complied, stepping off as they looked to me with smiles. "So Tia, Luna, where do you want me to escort you to?"

Tia tapped her chin with a hoof, "Well, we're seeking refuge at the Crystal Kingdom."

"So I'm guessing you have no idea where it is."

"Yes, I'm afraid," Tia replied with a frown, "I don't know where its exact location is, but…"

I stopped her by putting my hand on her head, patting her gently as I said enthusiastically, "Don't worry, we'll figure it out. We just need to find a town where we can get a map and a compass, and we'll be there before you know it."

"Thank you, Mr. Maxwell," Tia thanked with a nod, making me rub the back of my head.

"Please," I waved off, "Just call me Darwin."

She nodded at my request and I sighed, pushing up to my feet yet again, "Alright, let's get moving. We have to use what little day light we have left."

The two gave a nod and we started our journey. After that night of bloodshed, monsters, and even lost hope, I found a new reason to keep moving, and their names were Tia and Luna.


End file.
